


As the Coin Falls

by Mommadon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows About Marinette's Crush, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Akuma Attack (Miraculous Ladybug), F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mommadon/pseuds/Mommadon
Summary: They say that if you're torn between two choices, flip a coin.  As the coin falls, you'll discover what you're hoping the outcome will be.An akuma hits Ladybug and Chat Noir finds out she's in love with Adrien Agreste.  He convinces her to ask her hunky crush on a date. As he talks to girl after girl, he finds he's hoping that one adorable pigtailed girl will ask him out.  But will she?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 201
Kudos: 468
Collections: September 2020 - Fulfill A Prompt





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you aren't a part of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server, you really should be. One of my favorite parts of the server is monthly writing challenges and the writing-prompts channel. September's challenge is to fill some of the prompts that people so generously share. My prompt was written by the amazing [InkyCoffee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyCoffee/pseuds/InkyCoffee), but many more friends weighed in whenever I got stuck, so I just have to give a shout out to everyone on the server.
> 
> If you want to join us, you are more than welcome!  
> [Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server Invite](https://discord.gg/wcQvjyg%20</a>)

It was one of those times where life goes in slow-motion. Chat Noir was flying through the air, his hand bubbling black with raw cataclysmic energy. Love Crusher, the akuma of the day, was distracted by Ladybug brandishing her lucky charm (a beaded necklace). The pulsing, heart-shaped ball of light was headed for the love of Chat Noir’s life, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. So, instead, he watched with horror as the light enveloped Ladybug an instant before he sunk his claws into the backpack on Love Crusher’s back. The backpack disintegrated and the familiar purple butterfly wriggled free. Chat Noir’s eyes met Ladybug’s, catching the plaintive, terrified look she wore, and then he heard her mutter, “Adrien Agreste.”

As soon as the words slipped past her beautiful lips, her eyes cleared and the last magic from the akuma faded. She was suddenly all business, capturing and cleansing the akuma and setting the city aright, but Chat Noir couldn’t feel his face. He couldn’t feel much of anything, to be honest. He stood there, totally dumbfounded until he was pulled out his daze by the beeping of his ring. 

“Chat?” Ladybug said, “are you ok?”

He gave her a winning grin (an easy feat at any time of the day, thanks to his model training), “Yep, never better!”

She shook her head and peered in his acid green eyes, “No, you’re not. Ok, meet me tonight, our favorite rooftop, nine.” Her earrings were chirruping incessantly. She clasped her hands over them. “And please don’t say anything to anyone about this!” She was off with a zip of her yo-yo, leaving Chat Noir bewildered and amazed.

Ladybug, the most incredible woman he’d ever met, _Ladybug_ , was in love. With. Him. With Adrien. With HIM! When Love Crusher’s ball of light had hit him in the back roughly thirty minutes prior, he’d proudly cried her name for the world to hear, and then laughed because the akuma’s power was ridiculous and easy to overcome. _“Is that all you’ve got? You just make us admit our feelings about who we love? That’s easy!”_ He had no idea that it would be _this_ big of a deal. That his world would soon be rocked to its core. Of course, he’d still given it all he had. He’d still protected her and kicked serious butt. But he’d underestimated his opponent. He didn’t know it could still land a blow that would change _everything._

His name had passed her lips. She’d said it so mournfully. He knew why—it was because she’d just unwittingly shared more information about her personal life than she ever had before. He was confident that he was the only one who had heard her speak, though. The akuma was in the middle of losing their magic, the connection with Hawkmoth had already been broken, and there was nobody else in the vicinity except for a news helicopter, which was a hundred meters or more above them. Yes, the only one who’d heard who she was in love with was himself. But that was enough. 

She’d said _his_ name! She’d whispered _Adrien Agreste!_ Holy cow, that meant she was in love with him. Ladybug was in love with him!

She was _in love with him!_

Was this the same guy she’d been in love with all along? Was he the one he’d been so jealous of? He chuckled to himself—he’d envisioned this seedy stranger and imagined punching his lights out on numerous occasions. He’d never expected that dweeb to be _himself._ Then, he felt horribly guilty. She’d been turning him down because she was in love with _him._ Oh, poor, adorable Ladybug! What torment she must be going through! 

But she was in love with him. 

He suddenly found himself standing in the middle of his bedroom with Plagg contentedly indulging in a large chunk of camembert, with zero memory of how he got there. He vaguely hoped he’d detransformed somewhere discreet. 

Ladybug was in love with him. 

And she wanted to talk with him, tonight, at nine. He was going to make it right. He didn’t know how, but he was going to make her happy.

* * *

Chat Noir was an arrive-early kind of guy. Ladybug was always on time, but usually only just barely. Not tonight. As he vaulted over the rooftops with the world’s biggest grin plastered to his face, he saw her alluring outline pacing on their favorite spot. She’d beaten him. Apparently, the world’s biggest grin could get even bigger, and his cheeks were already aching when he landed, and she turned her sky-blue gaze on him. 

“Chat!” she said, “Wow, you’re early! And… Smiling? I guess that’s good. I was worried about you after, you know, today.”

“Worried?” he asked, practically skipping to her side and planting a soft kiss on her knuckles as he swept into a bow, “Why would you worry about me?”

“Well,” she blinked rapidly, and Chat Noir noticed how beautiful her eyelashes were as they fluttered open and shut, “I just… when you got hit by Love Crusher’s blow, you said my name… and then, when I got hit, I… you know… didn’t say yours.”

He repressed the laugh that came to his throat. _Didn’t she, though?_ “Milady, it’s ok,” he said, using all his extensive training to keep his cool. “Really.”

She started pacing again and tugged at her pigtails. “I just… it’s not safe for us to know something so personal. I didn’t mean to say it—”

“Ladybug, seriously, how many akumas have we faced? You’re not responsible for your actions when you’re being controlled by Hawkmoth’s power. That’s a known fact.”

“Still,” she said, resuming the mournful look that had broken his heart earlier that day, “I didn’t want to hurt you. I can’t imagine how that must have felt.”

 _Incredible. Amazing. Beyond wonderful. Life changing. Phenomenal. The dictionary didn’t have enough positive adjectives in it._ “Yeah,” he nodded, “But I’m fine, really.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “How are you so chill about this? Do you know more than you’re letting on?”

He gulped. This was not good. “N-No, I just… I decided a long time ago that your happiness was the most important thing to me. No matter who you’re in love with, I just want you to be happy.”

She gawked. “Wow, Chat, that’s… that’s really mature of you.”

A twang of guilt hit him in the gut. “Ladybug,” he said, still unable to wipe the grin from his face, “is it really such a bad thing that I know who you like?”

She looked frantic, “Yes!”

“Why? Are you embarrassed by me?”

She looked conflicted, so he sat down against the chimney column and patted the spot beside him. She came over and plopped down close enough so that their shoulders brushed—setting electric ripples of ecstasy through his chest—“No, I’m not embarrassed by you, Chat. It’s not like that at all. I just… we’re supposed to keep our identities a secret and this is a really big identity giveaway.”

He shook his head, “That you’re in love with Adrien Agreste?” _Gosh that feels good to say!_ “Do you know how many fangirls that guy has? A lot. I swear, I’m no closer to figuring out your identity than I was this morning.” It was the truth. Though something told him that Ladybug’s feelings were not the equivalent of a flippant celebrity crush. Someone as sincere and bold as Ladybug wouldn’t claim to be in love with someone she didn’t know. Which sent new stomach-churning waves of excitement through his gut—not only did she love him, but she knew him! Her shoulder brushed his again, bringing him back to the conversation at hand, “Also,” he added, “I’d already released the akuma when you said m—his name, so the connection with Hawkmoth was broken. Nobody else was around, the news microphones were well out of reach, so you don’t need to worry about anyone else. Just me.”

She studied him intently for several excruciating seconds. He wished he knew what she was thinking. Was she going to take away his Miraculous? Was she angry? Was she going to yeet him off the roof? Finally, she exhaled and whispered, “And you promise not to tell anyone?”

He crossed his heart, “Cat’s honor.”

She relaxed, deflating like a leaky balloon. “Ok then,” she finally managed a weak smile. “Ok then, this is going to be ok.”

“Ok!” he chirped. She glared at him playfully.

“You don’t have to be so excited about it, though.”

“Whatever! I told you I just wanted you to be happy!” She frowned at this comment, and he suddenly sensed something was off. “Aren’t you happy? Adrien’s a good person. I mean, from what I can tell. From afar. From a long distance.” He animated his words by spreading his hands out wide. Her shoulders sagged. “Ladybug?”

“He’s…” her voice, usually so commanding, went small and fragile, “he’s in love with someone else.”

His jaw dropped. “He is _not!”_

Thank goodness she took his tone as aghast and alarmed, rather than sincere. “Yep,” she nodded, the pop of the ‘p’ at the end of the words stinging him. She thought he loved a different girl! How could this be? “So, it’s a lost cause. It has been for a long time; I’ve just never been able to let him go.”

“Ladybug,” he whispered, her name branding his tongue like an iron, “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

She dropped her head between her knees and rubbed her shins while rocking forward and backward. He hesitantly reached out and patted her back. He wracked his brain for when he could have ever given anyone the impression that he was in love with someone besides Ladybug, but he was coming up short. “I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding,” he muttered.

“What?”

Whoops, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He swallowed hard and backpedaled, “I mean, you’re amazing and beautiful and incredible! There’s got to be some kind of misunderstanding. He probably just doesn’t know how you feel.”

She slumped forward again, “You’re right, he doesn’t.”

He felt an odd mix of relief and heartbreak, “You mean, you’ve never told him?”

She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “I’m pathetic,” she whimpered.

“You are not,” he insisted, “but I am surprised. Shocked, really. Why haven’t you told him?”

She laughed bitterly, “I’m not like you, Chat! You’re all smooth and suave and you have no problem spouting love sonnets at the drop of a hat! You always keep your composure! You’re as cool as a cucumber and never fumble your words or trip over your own shoes! It’s like you were born for the spotlight or something—you’re just, _you!”_ She waved a hand over his black costume. Chat’s jaw went slack, and he didn’t know if he should feel flattered or offended. “I’m _me!”_

“Hang on now, you’re _Ladybug!”_ he retorted defensively, “You take down akumas for breakfast and buoy up the city for lunch. You are brave and strong and beautiful and incredible!”

She glared at him, “That’s the mask you’re seeing.”

He folded his arms, “Yeah, and you’re seeing the mask too.”

She pursed her lips and thought on that for a moment, “Touché.” She rocked back into the chimney block and sighed, “Touché,” she repeated. 

“Look,” he said, trying to pull her out of her spiral of self-depreciation, “I understand what it’s like to live this double life of ours. I know what it’s like to be a different person behind the mask. I still think there’s a misunderstanding. And I think you need to tell Adrien how you feel.”

She snorted, “Yeah, right,” she added sarcastically.

“I’m serious, LB! If you really love the guy,” his heart rang with elation, “then he deserves a shot. And if he doesn’t love you back, well, at least the pressure will be lifted, and you can get on with your life.” She pondered. “But I’ll bet he’ll surprise you,” he added with a wink. 

She took a deep breath, “You’re right.”

“I am. I am?”

“Yeah. This crush thing has been going on for a long time. I’ve tried to move on and let him be with the girl he’s in love with, but there’s always been this gnawing doubt inside me. I know it’s because I never let him know how I feel.”

He squeezed her shoulders softly, “What’s the worst that can happen? He says no?”

She looked up at him with plaintive eyes, “Exactly! What if he says no and then we can’t even be friends anymore because it’s weird?”

He looked at her fondly and could keep his hands to himself. He stroked her cheek and fought the urge to drop his transformation and kiss her right there. “If he says no, then he’s a fool, and I’ll never let him live it down.”

She didn’t breathe for several seconds. Chat wondered if she could feel the intensity of his love for her in that moment. When she finally nodded and backed up, he decided that no, it had to have just been him. There was nothing exchanged between them other than words. Right?

“Ok,” she said, steeling her resolve. “I’ve tried so many times, but you’re right. I need to do this. Not for him, but for me.”

He grinned, “There’s the Ladybug I know. I know you’ve got that same fire with or without the mask, I’m sure of it.”

She giggled lightly—a beautiful sound that made shivers lift the back of Chat’s hair— “You have so much confidence in me.”

“I do,” he whispered sincerely, and she stopped breathing again. Wait, was he taking her breath away? Wow, he just might be— “Listen, here’s what you’ve got to do. When will you see him again?” She eyed him warily. “Oh, right, identities and personal lives and stuff. Ok, so next time you see him, you channel your inner Chat Noir—don’t look at me like that, I know you’ve got an inner Chat Noir—and you ask him out. Ask him to go to the movies or ice skating or whatever it is you know he likes. Make it clear it’s a date. Don’t let other people come with you. We can practice now if you like. But you ask him out. And if he says no, well, I’ll clean the Miracle box for you and walk the kwamis for a month. Ok?”

She giggled, “Two months.”

“Deal.” He reached out and shook her hand. 

“And what if he says y-yes?” she whispered hopefully.

“Then I get the best prize ever,” the world’s biggest grin returned, “I get to see you happy.”


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien was way more excited and nervous than he let on as he stood in the school entrance the next day. There was a good chance she wouldn’t even be here—he’d never confirmed that she knew him from school. She could have been another model, or member of his Brazilian fanclub for all he knew, but still, at some point, some girl was going to ask him out and it was going to be _her_. He promised himself, just as he had all night long, that the first girl to ask him out, he would say yes to. He was going to make her happy.

The first person to approach him was Alya. “Hey, Adrien!” she waved. “How’s it hanging?”

“Good, good,” he acknowledged. 

“Hey, Nino and I were thinking about having a party this weekend, any chance your dad would let you come? Just some beats and some snacks, and friends?” He looked at her carefully. Nope, that was _not_ a date invitation.

“I’ll ask him, but I’m not too hopeful.” He tried to give a polite smile. Alya didn’t seem put-off, and instead nodded in understanding.

“Sounds good. Well, if your schedule clears up, let us know.”

“Will do!” He smirked. He certainly hoped his schedule wouldn’t clear up. He hoped it would be chock full all weekend with river cruises of the Seine or snuggly movie theaters or quaint little bistros and Andre’s ice cream. 

Nino approached a moment later and greeted Alya with a kiss, and then the two headed up to their first class. Yeah, Alya was definitely not Ladybug.

Chloe and Sabrina approached next, “Hey, Adrikins! Had a good night?”

“The best,” he smirked. She actually looked a little offended by his chipper response.

“Well, good for _you_ then,” she snapped. “Anyway, when are you going to text me and ask me out? It’s been _ages_ since we did anything together!”

He chuckled. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. _She_ was supposed to ask _him_. “Ah, you know me,” he played it off, laughing at the notion of Chloe being Ladybug, “I’m just so busy.”

She pouted, “Well, when you’re done congregating with peasants, you know how to reach me.” She grinned and flipped her hair in his face. He coughed her perfume back as she trotted up the stairs to class. Adrien checked his phone for the time. It was getting late. Maybe she wasn’t here, he reminded himself. She could be anywhere. He really should get to class, but he hoped, he wondered, just another minute…

Marinette was running across the street, a croissant in her mouth, her arms full of books. He chuckled to himself. She was always just a little bit late. It was endearing, really. He didn’t know many people with a bigger heart than Marinette, and yet she couldn’t quite manage getting to school on time. But then she looked up and did the most peculiar thing—she froze in her tracks. She was in the middle of the crosswalk and she froze. A car almost hit her, it honked its horn in her face, and she still didn’t move. Suddenly concerned for her wellbeing, he launched himself down the front steps and raced to her side. 

“Marinette?” he took some of the books from her arms, “Are you ok?”

“A-Adrien,” she stammered, looking up at him with wide, surprised eyes. “It’s y-you!”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “me. Come on, shall we go to class?”

She swallowed, “C-Class?” 

“Yeah, school?”

“Oh!” she tripped on the curb but caught herself before she hit the pavement. He still grabbed her elbow to steady her, and she flushed bright red. “Yeah, gooschthing. I mean, school’s a good thing.”

He laughed. She always made him laugh. They were halfway up the stairs to the entrance of the school when she paused, squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath, “Adrien, I need to say something. Something important. I promised myself I wouldn’t wait any longer.”

His breath hitched in her throat. Could this be it? Could Marinette be _her?_ His heart kicked up a notch in it’s thudding as hope blossomed in his chest.

“Adrien, do you want to—”

“Adrien!” another voice caught his attention, “There you are! And Marinette, how nice to see you this morning!”

“Lila,” Marinette growled. Adrien turned around to see Lila’s ponytails swinging by her earlobes. 

“Oh, Marinette, Mme. Mendeleev wanted to see you before school started. Something about your recent physics homework? Anyway, she was insistent, you’d better check it out,” Lila smirked. Marinette looked confused and shot a look of longing toward Adrien, but then took her books back and scampered in the direction of the science classroom.

“I hope nothing’s too wrong,” Adrien said, sadly watching Marinette’s pigtails bounce away. “I’m pretty good with physics, maybe I should offer to help.”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong with her physics homework,” Lila giggled triumphantly and laced her arm around Adrien’s elbow, “Just a little white lie so I could have a second to talk to you.”

He frowned. “That’s not cool, Lila,” he shook his head. “They’re going to be so confused.”

“They’ll be fine,” she spat, “besides, you won’t be sorry when you hear what I have to say.”

He allowed her to steer them towards Mlle. Bustier’s classroom. “Ok, what is it?”

“So, Clara Nightingale’s in town and I was thinking… you, me, Friday night, we can probably sneak backstage?”

Adrien’s mouth suddenly turned dry. “Are you… are you asking me out?”

She batted her eyes, “Well, I’d hoped you’d ask _me,_ but decided you probably needed a nudge in the right direction.”

Adrien was shocked. “You’re asking me out,” he repeated numbly. Lila giggled something else, but he didn’t hear it. She didn’t look anything like Ladybug. She didn’t act anything like Ladybug, either. But, he promised himself he’d say yes to the first girl who asked, so, “Ok, fine,” he agreed. 

“Oh, oh I’m so excited!” she trilled and squeezed his bicep. 

“I mean,” he clarified, feeling awkward and gross all of a sudden, “I’ll need to clear things with Nathalie, but,” he swallowed, looking at her foreign green eyes, “I… I just want you to be happy.”

He didn’t know how he expected her to act, but it wasn’t like this. She clasped her hands under her chin, “Well, aren’t you the cutest,” she said. “I’ll text you the details so you can have your driver come pick us up.” She turned and started sprinting up the stairs, then paused and turned back to him, “Oh, and by the way, there might be a couple more people who come along. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

He scrutinized her. It wasn’t right. Lila couldn’t possibly be Ladybug, he knew that. But, there was that tiny shred of doubt that lingered. He pressed the topic once more to confirm, “You’re sure you don’t want it to be just the two of us?”

She flipped her hair, “Oh Adrien,” the way she said his name made his blood run chill, “wanting to be alone with me already? Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance.” The bell rang. “Oh no! We’re late!”

She started sprinting and Adrien was hot on her heels, skidding to his seat just as Mlle. Bustier turned around and smiled at him. “Welcome, class,” she smiled. The door flew open again and Marinette bumbled in, breathless and looking utterly dejected. “Marinette,” Mlle. Bustier scolded, “I suppose you’ve got a sick cat again?”

Marinette’s eyebrows peaked adorably, “Cat?”

“Or some other reason why you’re late for class?”

Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ and she huffed briefly, “Oh, y-yeah, no, I was told that Mme. Mendeleev needed to see me about something, but that turned out to be a lie.” Adrien shuddered as Marinette shot a steely look at Lila, who returned it with a supremely proud wink of her own. 

“I assume you got a note from Mme. Mendeleev?”

“Of course,” Marinette offered an orange piece of paper to her teacher, who nodded, and then she took her seat. As she passed Adrien’s desk, he looked up at her as if to say sorry—truly, she was only a few seconds later than he and Lila had been, and nobody had said anything to them—but the look Marinette gave Adrien surprised him. She gave him a sad, mournful little smile that was incredibly familiar, though he couldn’t remember why. 

* * *

Adrien’s morning classes were a drawn-out, arduous affair. He tried to listen, but he kept stealing glances at Lila, who wasn’t even attempting to take notes, and was instead brazenly texting in the back row. It was true, Ladybug had said she felt different without her mask, but… it couldn’t be her, could it? By the time Mlle. Bustier called his attention to the front of the class again, he scowled at his notebook and shook his head. He knew he’d promised himself he’d say yes to any girl who asked him out, but this was just… not ok. If she were Ladybug, he didn’t know if he could handle it. His heart ached just thinking about it. 

It wasn’t that Lila wasn’t decent looking. It was that she lied. He could forgive her for the first time when she talked about being friends with Ladybug, but later, when she got Marinette expelled? That was not ok. 

Marinette! Oh, he turned back and snuck a peek at Marinette, who was working on her notes feverishly, her pink tongue poking out between her lips. She looked up at him and dropped her pencil when their eyes met. He smiled at her softly. She’d been through more than her fair share, and yet she was still just as sweet and kind as the day they’d met. He vaguely wondered what she was going to ask him that morning when Lila interrupted them. He glanced at Lila once more, whose eyes narrowed at Marinette. Apparently, she’d seen the look Adrien and Marinette had just exchanged. Was she _jealous?_ Adrien decided to do a little test. “Oops, here’s your pencil, Marinette,” Adrien smiled, bending down and returning the errant writing instrument to her. He let his fingers brush against hers and watched Lila carefully. The brunette glared daggers from the back row. She _was_ jealous! Interesting.

“Adrien, would you care to repeat what was just discussed?”

Mlle. Bustier’s frustrated voice brought him up short. He wheeled around and faced forward, feeling his face flush. “Uh,” he started, then heard Marinette’s quiet voice behind him whisper,

_“The Renaissance was a time of vast artistic celebration and development.”_

“The Renaissance was a time of artistic development and celebration,” he quipped with a smirk, “Though I think we’re viewing the Renaissance through a narrow lens. There’s been a lot of evidence to suggest that they rewrote history, painting themselves in a better light, and they coined the Medieval Era the Dark Ages just to make themselves look smarter—”

“Is that so,” Mlle. Bustier gave him a flat look, “Well. Thanks for your assessment. How about we keep our eyes forward?”

He smirked, “Yes, Mademoiselle.” He didn’t turn around again. 

* * *

The bell had barely rung for lunch when Lila was right by his side, her arm around his and her voice drawling on and on about what she was planning for their date on Friday. Adrien prided himself on being a gentleman, and he _had_ promised himself he would say yes, but he was already regretting his choice. “You know, Lila,” he said carefully, “I haven’t heard back from Nathalie about Friday yet. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“Oh,” she giggled, “don’t worry. I’ve already spoken with your father, and he said your schedule should be clear.”

He swallowed hard, then croaked, “Wait, you’ve spoken with my f-father?”

“Oh yes!” she trilled, “He’s such a sweet man, you must feel so fortunate to have such a caring parent.” 

“Uh…”

“Hang on, sorry, Adrien, I’ve got to answer this,” she grinned as her phone buzzed and she skipped off.

Great. So she was better connected with his father than he was. That was… not good. Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose and marched into the locker room, frustrated and lost—the exact opposite of how he’d started this morning. He put his books in his locker and retrieved his jacket, then slammed the locker door shut with more force than was absolutely necessary. A girl’s voice from the row next to him yelped, clearly startled from the noise. He poked his head around the bank of lockers and saw Marinette cleaning up some books she must have dropped when she yelped.

“Oh, sorry to scare you, Marinette!” Adrien said as he helped her clean up.

“Fits mine. I mean, you’re fine. No, ak! I’m such a mess,” she huffed, rubbing her eyes. 

He chuckled. “It’s ok. Hey, thanks so much for helping me in class today, with the answer about the Renaissance.”

She smiled fondly, “I was happy to help, not that you needed it. You seem to know a lot about the Renaissance already; enough to have formed your own opinions at least. What were you so distracted about anyway?”

He shrugged, “I just… I think I have a date this weekend and I guess I was nervous about it.”

Her eyes widened and she stumbled backward into her locker door. “A d-date?”

“Yeah,” he gave a sad smile, “with Lila.”

“Lila?” she swallowed, and he nodded. “Oh, ok, well, that sounds f-fun. With L-Lila?”

“Yeah,” he repeated himself, slower this time, “she asked me out this morning, and I didn’t have anything else going on, so I said yes.” She seemed like she was chewing on words that she couldn’t form. “Marinette, are you alright?”

She blinked rapidly, took a deep breath, and was suddenly very calm and steady, “Yes, I’m just fine. It’s silly, is all.”

“What’s silly?”

“I’d just… I was going to ask you… I had planned on…” As she struggled to complete her sentence, Adrien’s heart started doing a wild dance in his chest. Was she trying to ask him out? Was _Marinette_ going to ask him on a date? His palms erupted in sweat and he realized how much he wanted her to. Oh, if Marinette were the one asking him out—sweet, kind, beautiful, passionate Marinette, that would be wonderf— “You know, it doesn’t matter,” she waved her hand in front of her, “I hope you have a great time.”

He crashed faster than he’d built her up. So, she hadn’t been planning to ask him out after all. She wasn’t Ladybug then. He frowned and shook the disappointment from his face just in time to realize that Marinette was already walking toward the exit. He hurried to keep up with her, “Lila said it could be a group thing, do you want to get a couple friends together and come with us?”

She shook her head, “Oh no, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your date. I’m really fine, I promise. I just remembered I have a thing I need to do, so I’m going to go. Thing.”

“Go thing?” he asked, but his question fell into silence as Marinette raced off down the steps of the school, leaving him in the dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I've made it through chapter two and hit on most of the points from the prompt, I can tell you what the whole prompt was. This fic is not complete yet, but in case you were wondering, this is what [InkyCoffee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyCoffee/pseuds/InkyCoffee) wrote for the prompt:  
> Chat Noir finds out Ladybug's civilian crush is Adrien Agreste. So he talks her into asking him out the next day, and inwardly decided to say yes to any girl who asks. He gets his hopes up when it looks like Marinette wants to talk to him a few times the next day, but then Lila stops him and asks him out. Could his Lady really be that different out of the mask? 
> 
> [Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server Invite](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst for this story is done. Time for some shenanigans! Thanks for stopping by, and thank you to everyone who commented and shared their thoughts with me so far. I really appreciate your perspective and often tweak upcoming chapters because of something someone said in a comment. Please don't be shy; let me know what you think!

Adrien really wanted to talk to Ladybug. As luck would have it, Plagg informed him after school that Ladybug had sent Tikki to ask him to run a patrol that very night. Once his extracurriculars wound down, Adrien found himself a nervous ball of energy. His phone dinged. 

**Lila: hey hot stuf look at this outfit 4 2-mrw:**

_Keep an open mind,_ Adrien scolded himself when he recoiled at Lila’s selfie. Then, he wondered why he was still trying with her. Because… no reason seemed good enough. Because he’d promised Ladybug. Because his mother had raised him better. Because he really _was_ shy without his mask and had a hard time letting anyone down, even someone who lied as readily as Lila. Because his father had signed off on the activity and he was so attention-starved that he would take a date with Lila over another lonely night playing Ultimate Mecha Strike. He sighed to himself and poked at his dinner. Why was he such a pushover? 

And what about Ladybug? Had she actually asked him out that day? His whole gut cried out _no,_ but Adrien cursed his sheltered upbringing. The truth was, he had so little experience with social interactions that he wasn’t sure he’d recognize being asked out unless it smacked him over the head, like Lila or Alya had done. That’s why he’d told Ladybug to be unequivocal. Maybe she hadn’t seen him all day? She’d _promised_ she would ask him out as soon as she saw him, and of anything Ladybug was, she was not a liar. So that was it, then. She didn’t go to his school. His stomach sank. He’d felt so certain that she would be there, bluebell eyes blazing, that she would march up to him and put her hands on his lapels and maybe even award him with one of her sassy, commanding smirks as she asked him to the movies and ice cream. But his gut had been wrong about her all along. She wasn’t as close as he’d felt. She might not even be his age. She probably only knew him from afar, another face in the sea of fans. He tried not to be too disappointed as he meandered up to his bedroom. He still had half an hour or so before their meeting time, so Adrien decided to put in a little bit of piano practice to appease Nathalie before he would sneak out. 

As his fingers danced over the keys and music filled the cavernous expanse, something red flashed out of the corner of his eye. He turned toward the enormous bank of windows that lined one of his walls, but not seeing anything in particular, he turned back to his music. A moment later, though, movement again caught his attention. He turned faster and this time could have sworn he saw a red and black spotted figure duck out of sight. Was that… was she… ?

He smirked and returned to his song. Well, if she was going to be shy, he was going to give her a treat. He whipped out a different piece, one he’d already mastered, and tackled it with gusto. He pounded the keyboard and focused on his peripheral vision. She was there, he knew it; she was listening. He hit a few wrong notes as the realization that _Ladybug_ was listening to _him_ , but he recovered fairly well. Once the impressive piece was finished, he smiled to himself and prayed she was still there. Suddenly feeling incredibly bold, Adrien shed his overshirt (ignoring Plagg’s annoyed harrumph as he unexpectedly hit the ground in a white heap of fabric), stretched and wandered toward the window. He couldn’t tell quite where she was, but in one more brazen move, he lifted the black t-shirt over his head and flexed as he pretended to stretch. _There you go,_ he thought toward her, wherever she was, _I hope you like the gun show._

He stood by the window for a moment, shirtless, before picking his way toward the bathroom. He heard a loud crunching sound from outside and looked back to see the tree outside his window shaking violently. Oh no! Did she fall? Was she hurt? Oh, he suddenly felt stupid. Ladybug! He was torn between opening his window and calling out to her, or diving in his bathroom and calling on his transformation. She had been trying to be discreet, probably just checking up on him since she hadn’t seen him all day and would be mortified if he knew she’d fallen… he decided on the latter. Gathering up his discarded items of clothing, he raced into the bathroom and locked the door. He called on his transformation before Plagg could protest and shimmied out the smaller, more secluded, bathroom window. After silently dropping down in an alley behind his house, Chat Noir nonchalantly strolled around the corner and checked the gps on his cat phone—Ladybug was close. He smirked to himself and tore off in her direction. He found her on a rooftop on the other side of the street, pacing.

“Ladybug! What are you doing out so early?” he grinned. “Plagg told me seven-thirty.” He walked up to her as her wide, nervous eyes darted back and forth. “Oh,” he grinned, trying not to look too pleased (and failing) as he picked out a twig from her hair, “you’ve got some leaves in your hair. Everything alright?”

She looked at the leaves in his hand with horror, “Y-yeah, everything’s fine. I heard Monsieur Damocles was going to moonlight tonight and I thought we’d better keep an eye on him and so…”

He nodded with a smile, “Good plan.”

“Also,” she dug her toe into the tile on the roof, “Here,” she said, turning and picking up the round Miracle Box he hadn’t noticed before and shoving it at him. “I try to let them out once a day, but only a couple at a time because wearing extra Miraculous can kinda wipe you out. I’d put Plagg away before letting out Barkk if I were you. Sass likes his eggs raw, but don’t let Orikko see them—he gets defensive over eggs. And save Longg for right before bed or school or something because otherwise he’ll never shut up. Oh and—” she paused, looked up at his confused face, and gave him a watery smile, “you polish each piece of jewelry carefully. The cleanliness of their Miraculous translates to the cleanliness of their home.”

“Wh-What is this?” he asked, and he hefted the box.

“The Miracle Box, of course! You promised to walk the kwami for two whole months! Of course, you’ll need to keep it somewhere safe and keep in touch with me, should we need to call on another hero, but… a deal’s a deal, right?”

His heart clinched in cruel understanding, “Ladybug,” he whispered, “I only promised to take the Miracle Box if Adrien said no—”

She shook her head with a far-too-wide smile. “It’s fine, seriously—”

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her just as she burst into tears. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered, genuinely confused. “He… he _couldn’t_ have said no…”

She shook against his chest and he wanted desperately to fill her up with love and self-confidence so that she’d never hurt like this again. What had he done? He wracked his brain through every conversation that day. He’d told Alya that he couldn’t do her group thing, but he was confident that 1-Alya wasn’t Ladybug and 2-Alya was with Nino and 3-the group date was a total coincidence. Chloe had spoken with him that day, but 1-Chloe was certainly _not_ Ladybug and 2-she’d wanted him to ask her, not the other way around, and 3-Chloe was Queen Bee and had no problem shedding her secret identity and did he mention that she was certainly not Ladybug? The only other person who’d asked him out was—he swallowed hard and reminded himself to keep an open mind—Lila, and he’d said yes. So how, _how_ could Ladybug be here, shaking like a leaf and soaking his chest with her tears?

“He d-didn’t say n-no,” she hiccupped, and Chat Noir was washed in relief. “Not e-exactly. H-He’s just d-dating s-someone e-e-e-else,” she muttered, sniffling and spluttering. Chat ran his hands through her pigtails and held her, knowing that he’d give himself away if she looked him in the eyes right now. 

“Ladybug, did you ask him out?” he questioned softly.

She gulped down air until she had surpassed the worst of her tears, “N-Not exactly. I tried!” she emphasized, “But I told you, I just… I just _can’t._ ” 

Again, relief untied some of the knots in Chat’s stomach. “Well, then how do you know he’s not interested? You’ve got to ask him out!”

“I knoooow,” she wailed, burying her face into his chest again—and as much as he loved being close to her, he wished it were because she was excited about the prospect of a date, not because he was hurting her, however unintentionally. 

“Listen,” he whispered into her fragrant hair, “Give him another chance, ok? He’s not seeing anyone.”

“How do you know that?” she grumbled; her voice muffled by his chest.

“Uh,” he panicked, “I read the most recent _Paris Teen Weekly_ issue on him. He said he was single.”

“Oh,” she noted.

“And besides, I thought we established that if you truly care about him, you’d give him a shot. Like, a real, clear shot. The poor kid was homeschooled since he learned to walk—he’s going to need a bigger clue than some of the others. So,” he added with a self-serving smirk, “make it pretty obvious, ok?”

She giggled. That was a good sign. She nodded into his chest. “I dunno, Chat,” she gulped, the self-doubt creeping back up, “I dunno if I have the courage.”

He took a breath. Maybe this wasn’t going to work. If she didn’t ask him out, he wasn’t going to find out her identity. Which was probably for the best, if he were being totally honest. Their secret identities were secret, and for good reason. He was pushing buttons that shouldn’t be pushed right now, and even though it was exhilarating, he knew it was inappropriate. And what if he _did_ find out her identity and she was angry because he’d encouraged her to reveal herself? What then? He ran his claws through her pigtails carefully and held her, “You know, it’s really not a big deal,” he soothed. “If it’s not right, it’s not right.”

She reeled back and punched him in the arm, “You’re just saying that so that I’ll give up and still be available to date.”

He shook his fervently, “Absolutely not,” he promised as sincerely as possible. “I told you, I just want you to be happy.” And for the first time in two days, he genuinely meant it, no strings attached. 

She scowled, wiped her nose on her wrist, then dug her fists into her hips. “You don’t think I can do it.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her adorable pout, then realized too late that that was probably the wrong reaction. He wiped the grin from his face, “No, you’re incredible! I know you can do anything you set your mind to—”

“That’s it,” she dismissed, reaching over and snatching the Miracle Box away from him, “I’m _going_ to ask Adrien Agreste out. I _am_ brave and I _will_ do this, you’ll see. You’ll be eating your words by the end of the week, Chat Noir. You’ll see. _You’ll see.”_

The fire in her eyes killed him dead. RIP Adrien Agreste, it was nice knowing you. It was sad that she killed him before he ever got to tell her that he loved her back, but oh well. They could go on their date in heaven—an angel like her could certainly come up and visit him whenever she wanted, right?

An angel who was flying away and he was going to lose her forever. Shoot! “Ladybug, wait up!” he laughed as he came back to Earth. 

“Patrol!” she called back to him. “I’ll be right there!”

He redirected his flight path to head towards Monsieur Damocles’ favorite haunts once he realized that Ladybug was probably going to put the Miracle Box away. He still found it difficult to concentrate on the patrol he was supposed to be running. She was more determined than ever to ask him out. The same hope that had left him floating all day long rose up in his chest. What was even better was knowing that if Ladybug hadn’t asked him out, that meant that she _couldn’t_ have been Lila or Chloe. And better still? That meant there was still hope for other girls at his school. A silhouette of another bright, pigtailed, smiling face crossed his mind unbidden—a girl who _had_ tried to talk to him a couple times, a girl who could be just as fiery and intense as Ladybug, and still a girl who was thoughtful and hilarious all in one adorable package—

 _No, Adrien,_ Chat scolded himself, _Keep an open mind!_ He surprised himself with how much he was hoping Marinette would ask him out. He skidded to a halt in the park behind the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, and scrubbed his palms into his eyelids in a vain attempt to regain his composure. Marinette was just a friend. 

Only the cutest, funniest, most talented friend he had. 

_Slow down there, Agreste—_

It was totally normal to want a friend to ask you out.

_Watch out, this is dangerous territory. Don’t forget you’re in love with Ladybu—_

Ok, maybe more than ask out. What did Marinette’s lips taste like? Were they as soft as they looked?

_Cool it, kid!_

“Chat Noir!” he was pulled from his reverie by a woman’s voice, “Thank goodness you’re here!”

He wheeled around, his arms spinning as he nearly tripped back into reality, “What seems to be the problem, Madame?”

“Uh,” the woman pushing a stroller queried, before pointing right beside her. Monsieur Damocles, dressed up as The Owl, had gotten himself tangled in a rope in the tree, and was dangling upside down and looking mortified.

“Oh,” Chat suppressed a giggle, “I… I uh, I didn’t see you there.” It was the truth. An embarrassing truth that he’d been so caught up in his daydream about Marinette that he’d totally blown past the man in distress? Sure, but truth nonetheless.

Just then, Ladybug came swinging down from above. “Oh, Monsieur Damo—I mean, Monsieur Owl,” she said fondly, “What happened?’

Ladybug. _Ladybug._ That’s right, he loved Ladybug! Look how sweet and attentive she was being to his poor, sad Principal! It was so like her. “Let me help you get out of there,” Chat Noir grinned and stepped forward. “Cataclysm!”

Ladybug positioned herself just below Monsieur Damocles’ shoulders as Chat Noir ran a claw carefully over the bundle of rope that was holding him to the tree branch. Ladybug caught the man effortlessly and laid him gently on his feet. He was bright red in the face as he stammered an excuse about trying to get a kite out of the tree and his rope slipping. Chat Noir let Ladybug wave goodbye to the flustered man. When she turned back to Chat, Ladybug’s lips were pressed together in a line and her eyes sparkled as she tried to suppress a laugh. 

Chat’s heart snapped back into place fast enough to give him emotional whiplash. _This_ was the girl who owned his heart! He knew she had a life without her mask, and he wanted desperately to be a part of it. He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky as to catch her eye even without superpowers, but he re-promised himself that he was going to accept any girl who was brave enough to ask. _But he still secretly hoped that the next girl who would ask lived in a bakery not too far away._ No! IT WAS TOTALLY OK WHOEVER SHE WAS!

“Oh crumb,” Ladybug muttered as she looked at something on her yo-yo screen.

“What is it?” Chat asked, struggling to keep his thoughts focused. 

“Just got a request from Police Headquarters—there’s been a tanker crash on the highway. They need to get it cleaned up—”

Chat Noir’s ring beeped. “Oh,” he responded as he looked at the blinking paw print on his Miraculous. 

“Why don’t you go recharge really quick and meet me back here in a few minutes?” she smiled.

“Sounds good.” 

“I still need to put the Miracle Box away,” she added, “so—Bug out!” Chat Noir watched her swing away and started scanning the area for a covert place to drop his transformation and feed Plagg. The park was abnormally full of people, but the sun was setting, so there were more shadows than usual. He looked up. Hm, everything seemed pretty visible, except for one balcony that had an awning. Maybe it was because the vision of her bright blue eyes and bouncing pigtails still called to him, but Chat Noir knew the safety of Marinette’s balcony would be perfect for a quick recharge. Her lights were off—she was probably out with friends anyway. 

He vaulted himself to her rooftop in one smooth motion, ducked behind her lounge chair, and whispered, “Claws In!” Green light sizzled over his skin and Plagg fell into his outstretched hands. 

“Camembert?” Plagg moaned unceremoniously. Adrien chuckled and poked him in the stomach. 

“You are _so_ predictable,” Adrien laughed, then reached for his shirt pocket and his stash of cheese—only to hit the bare skin of his chest.

Plagg’s toxic eyes turned on him like tiny green lasers. “Where’s my _cheese,_ Casanova?”

Adrien patted his chest as if he expected his shirt to rematerialize any second now. Oh no. His shirt was still in a crumpled heap on his bathroom floor, where he’d dropped it as he was showing off for Ladybug. “Um,” he swallowed hard as he looked around the scrupulously clean balcony, “we’ve got a teensy tiny problem.”


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien was suddenly extremely cold. He wrapped his arms to his bare chest and shivered as he knocked on Marinette’s skylight as loudly as he could. There was no getting around it—he’d messed up badly. There was no food up on this balcony, so with his proverbial tail between his legs, there was nothing to do but beg for help. He worried his lip with his teeth. Her lights hadn’t been on; there was a good chance she wasn’t home at all. Sabine and Tom might be there, he thought hopefully, but they would be down in the residence or all the way in the bakery, some five stories below him. There was very little chance that anyone would notice he was up here until it was too late. Ladybug would finish putting the Miracle Box away and she would come back to the park and not find him there and think he’d ditched her. Maybe he could flag her down without her seeing him? But explaining why he didn’t have a pocket full of cheese on him wasn’t going to be pleasant. _“I’m such an idiot,”_ he muttered and knocked again, even louder this time.

“Yes you are,” Plagg whined from the chair cushion. “Ugh, just get me something to _eat!_ ”

He started knocking again when there was an unexpected noise below him, a flash of light streamed up through the skylight (was Marinette taking selfies down there or something? Weird.) and Adrien’s heart soared with relief. She was home! He knocked again, more swiftly and earnestly. He heard Marinette’s muffled voice below him as she clambered onto her bed and the skylight squeaked open.

“W-Who is it?” she gasped as Adrien simultaneously yelped,

“It’s Chat Noir don’t come up!” Adrien ducked behind the lounge again as the opening skylight froze. “I uh, I know this is really weird, but I got caught up here and I…” he swallowed, his tongue suddenly dry, “I need some cheese.”

Plagg moaned, _“Camembert!_ He _neeeeeeeds_ _camembert!”_

“Plagg,” he hissed, “shut up! This is weird enough as it is!”

“Chat Noir?” Marinette’s voice wafted up to him.

“Yeah, and I’m not transformed so don’t come up, ok?”

Marinette’s familiar giggle surprised him. “Is that P—your _kwami?”_

“Uh,” Adrien glared at Plagg, who was holding his stomach and yowling in misery. “Yeah? He really likes cheese, and I had to use my cataclysm to free Monsieur Damocles a few minutes ago, but then Ladybug and I were summoned to a tanker wreck and I needed to recharge, so I came up here to… and what is so funny?”

“N-Nothing,” she hiccupped between bouts of laughter. “Let me go check the bakery. I don’t know if I have camembert, but would cheese pastries be alright?”

Plagg’s ear twitched hopefully, even though he kept up the ruse of starving to death. “I’m sure my kwami can deal with it.” 

“Ok, hang tight,” her lilting voice spoke, and he heard her footsteps scurry down.

“Well, there you have it. It’s a good thing Marinette is so kind—” Adrien groaned at Plagg.

“There _I_ have it? Kid, you’re the one who decided to show off for Ladybug and then transform without your shirt, despite my very clear warning, and then come up here to try to sneak a peek at Pigtails before re-transforming—”

“Hey,” Adrien interjected, “I didn’t come up here to _sneak a peek_ at Marinette—”

“Right.”

“Seriously! She’s just a—”

“If you say she’s just a friend one more time, I’m going to cataclysm your face off.”

Adrien glared at his tiny god of destruction. “You know how I feel about Ladybug. You know how I feel about Marinette.”

“I also know that you’ve been hoping Marinette will ask you out for two days now.”

He glared at Plagg, “Just shut up. It’s not like that and you know it. I’m keeping an open mind, I’ll have you know.”

Plagg rolled his tiny eyes, “Look, you know how I feel about this stupid mushy human love stuff. But I do not understand why you’re letting Ladybug make all the moves here. I mean, if I want a piece of cheese, I just go get it; I don’t wait for it to roll into my mouth. Unless, however, my idiot owner decides it’s a good idea to transform without his shirt on—”

“I get it, you’re hungry,” Adrien snapped, though he had to admit, Plagg had a point. Marinette’s footsteps below him ended his conversation with Plagg abruptly, but he’d have to think that over later. 

A plate loaded with cheese Danishes, quiches, cheese bread, and a hunk of gouda appeared at the skylight, followed by Marinette’s hand. “Is this going to be enough?” her voice asked.

Adrien saw Plagg’s eyes pop as the tiny black cat dove into the plate of food. Well, if it was enough to impress even Plagg, he had to hand it to her. “Yeah, that’s amazing,” Adrien sighed as his heart raced. “He would say thank you if his mouth wasn’t so full.”

She laughed. Adrien’s heart swelled at her beautiful, musical laugh. She so seldom laughed at school. Adrien snuck a Danish from the platter and relished in the delicate pastry dough and creamy cheese filling. “These are really good,” he moaned in delight. 

“Oh,” Marinette’s voice muttered, “Oh.” Adrien could hear another voice, muted and tiny, almost as if Marinette were talking on the phone, and then she said, “Hang on, I’ve got to do something.”

“Ok,” Adrien said, and leaned up against the lounge to finish his pastry and wait for Plagg to finish eating. The skylight closed from within. Plagg emerged with a face covered in flecks of dough and cheese, and an enormous grin. 

“Kid, I know you like Ladybug and all, but if you choose Pigtails, I could _seriously_ get used to this.”

Adrien groaned through his chuckle. At that moment, a red ball buzzed over the railing of Marinette’s balcony and Adrien ducked. “Chat Noir?” the red ball called.

“Tikki?” Adrien asked. Tikki came closer and waved. “What are you doing up here? Is Ladybug ok?”

Tikki smiled, “Ladybug’s fine. We had a heck of a time finding you!”

He chuckled, “Yeah, I… I uh, I forgot to put on my shirt before I transformed, and that’s where I keep my camembert for Plagg, but thank goodness I was up here and Marinette brought us some pastries.” Tikki took in the shirtless Adrien, the distended-stomach black cat kwami, and the half-eaten plate of pastries, and smiled. “Marinette’s the best,” Adrien added as an afterthought. Tikki’s eyes went wide.

“She really is special, isn’t she?”

Adrien was confused, “You’ve met Marinette?”

Tikki’s eyes darted back and forth twice before she grinned broadly, “Uh-huh! When she was Multimouse that once, she met a whole bunch of kwami, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Adrien sighed, remembering Multimouse’s adorable twin buns. “That whole akuma attack was pretty crazy. She did amazing, though.”

Tikki nodded vigorously, “Yes, she did. I know she thinks highly of you, too,” Tikki said.

Adrien’s mouth dropped, “Wait, she does?”

“Um,” Tikki muttered, “I shouldn’t have said that. Anyway!” she chirped, suddenly trying to change the subject as Adrien caught Plagg giving Tikki a shushing sign. “Ladybug got a message from the police chief not long after you two separated, and they got the tanker crash figured out, so you don’t need to meet up with her again tonight.”

“Oh? Oh,” he said, feeling his stomach plunge. He always felt let down when he missed an opportunity to spend time with his lady.

“But she wishes you her very best!” Tikki responded with a wink. “And she hopes you have a great day!”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Adrien muttered. Tikki started flying off, “Hey, Tikki?” the kwami turned back. “Would you remind her… remind her that I just want her to be happy?”

Tikki paused, her eyes watered a little bit, and she smiled softly. She zoomed forward to hug Adrien against the cheek. “I will,” she promised. “And for what it’s worth,” she whispered, “I’m rooting for you.”

Tikki disappeared just as quickly as she’d popped up, leaving Adrien to ruminate over her words. Marinette thought highly of him? But she was rooting for him and Ladybug? It was terribly confusing and equally euphoric. Adrien looked over the languid Plagg and muttered, “Why can’t you be more like Tikki?”

“Like Tikki?” he cackled, “You need balance in your life, Kid. If I was like Tikki, you’d spend all your time holed up in that stadium bedroom of yours watching romance movies and your teeth would rot out of your head from an excess of sugar.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Plagg, claws out!” 

Once he was fully transformed, he hesitated by the railing. He _could_ just go home, but he’d banked on a full evening patrol with Ladybug and now that wasn’t going to happen, and he knew who was just a few meters away, and he yearned for something sweet and sassy to lift his dejected spirit… Before he could talk himself out of it, he was knocking on the skylight one more time. A moment later, it creaked open a few centimeters. “Chat Noir? Is that you again?”

“Yep,” he replied, “and I’m decent now.”

The skylight opened the rest of the way and Marinette’s inky pigtails bounced into view. Chat instantly felt his stomach relax. “I just wanted to say thank you for the pastries; they really hit the spot.”

Marinette gave a quirky little grin that made him melt. “No problem. We often have leftovers from the bakery that we typically donate to the homeless shelter, but I don’t think Papa would disapprove of occasionally feeding a poor, starving, homeless kitty cat,” she winked cheekily. Whoa nellie, if she kept talking like that, Ladybug wouldn’t be the only angel visiting him in heaven.

“I… I just might take you up on that,” he grinned broadly. 

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, “However, I think Papa would prefer if you use the front door for pastries. Mainly because he’s a huge LadyNoir shipper and—”

“Wait,” he interrupted with an index finger to the side of his nose, “he’s a-a L-LadyNoir shipper?”

She pulled herself all the way through the skylight, sat on her lounge chair, and picked over the remaining pastries. “Yeah,” she shook her head fondly, “ever since that botched breakfast date when he was akumatized, he keeps insisting—” she dropped her voice low in an impression of her father, “ _‘I guess if Chat Noir doesn’t end up with my daughter, the only other person worthy of him is Ladybug.’_ Ha! I keep telling him that Ladybug should get a say in the matter, but he’s insistent. Anyway, he just loves you, so make sure you—hey,” she halted, “what’s that look?”

He blinked his eyes rapidly and scoffed, “What look?”

She pouted. Her lips really _did_ look soft and pink. She crossed her arms and glared, “You totally just gave me… I don’t know how to explain it… you gave me an _owo_ face.”

His mouth was suddenly dry. “Marinette,” he purred, “you know what owo faces are?”

She rolled her eyes at him again, “Of _course_ I do. What kind of self-respecting half-Asian gaming nerd do you think I am?”

“But owo faces are… are kind of an anime thing…”

She raised an eyebrow, “Like I said, half-Asian gaming nerd here.” She drew a circle in the air around her face to prove her point.

Her father was a fan. He was pretty sure she’d just left an open invitation to visit the bakery and her family whenever he wanted. The pastries were incredible. Even Plagg was impressed. And now she was talking about owo faces and gaming and Anime? 

“Hang on,” she said, giggling and shaking her head. “Your face is just _so_ expressive tonight… I can’t even…” and she threw the skylight open and disappeared. Expressive. Was that a compliment? He felt like it was. He hoped it was. A few moments later, she re-emerged, this time holding a sketchbook and pencil in one hand. “Would you mind?” she tapped the sketchbook.

“You-you want to sketch _me?_ ” She nodded enthusiastically. “Sure,” he shrugged, pulling himself into one of his model poses and striking a winning smile.

“No, not _that_ face, the owo face!” she pouted. He screwed up his features to find the look she was going for. She harrumphed, “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” he chortled.

“Stop trying to impress me. Here,” she said, pushing the plate of pastries toward him. 

He pressed a hand to his chest, “Me? Try to impress you? Never.” He snagged a mini quiche and popped it in his mouth whole, “I never have to _try_. Impressing you just happens naturally.”

She threw the pillow from the lounge at his head and laughed. He didn’t even try to dodge it. When the pillow fell to the ground below him, his face was covered with smashed quiche, and Marinette’s teasing laugh turned into a full-blown-raucous-guffaw. She eventually regained her composure and settled into the lounge and cracked open her sketch book. Her hand flew over the page, her eyes occasionally darting back up to his face for reference. “So,” she said, easing into a comfortable sketching rhythm, “tell me about your favorite anime.”

The two of them settled into a bantering conversation. They talked about anime and video games, and that branched into culture and electronics, and then Marinette told him a story from when she and Nino were in primary school. She was _fascinating._ He’d admired Marinette for over a year now, but he’d rarely had easy conversation with her like this. She was usually so uptight, but tonight she was all smiles and jokes and teasing laughter. He wanted to ask her what the change was, but that would require admitting that he knew her better than Chat Noir should, so he just leaned back and soaked it in. Before Chat knew it, the sun had set completely, and Marinette was stretching her cramped hand. Coming back to an awareness of his surroundings, Chat checked the clock on his cat phone. “Holy,” he barked, “is it _that_ late?”

She gnawed her lower lip, reminiscent of the way she acted with Adrien every time they spoke, “Oh no, have I kept you out too long? I’m sorry—” 

Interesting. She gnawed her lower lip when she was apologizing. “No, it’s not that at all,” he rushed, trying to soothe the little ‘v’ that had appeared between her eyebrows, “I just got caught up in an amazing conversation with an adorable girl and, well, apparently time really does fly when you’re having fun.”

She blushed, “A-adorable?” 

Very interesting—she stammered and blushed when she felt flattered. Why had he never noticed that before? He nodded enthusiastically. “But alas, this kitty does have a bedtime, so… but before I go,” he said, stretching languidly, “can I see the sketches?”

Her eyebrows lifted and her mouth formed a perfect ‘o.’ “Sure!” She tossed the sketchbook to him, stood, walked to her railing, and massaged her hand.

He flipped through the book until he found the pages she’d been working on. Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. She’d filled the whole spread with doodles of him. Some were in a chibi/anime style and were among the cutest thing he’d ever seen—she’d given him an owo face to beat all owo faces. He loved the way his hair puffed out in her drawings and his cheeks were round and flushed. But there were other sketches, much more realistic and detailed, that really caught his eye. In one, he was giving a far-off look. Another, he looked somewhat confused. Then he turned the page and his face filled the entire spread. One single, phenomenal, beautiful drawing that made his heart hammer against his sternum and his limbs go weak. He was smiling, his eyes were warm and inviting, his cat ears were perked up, and… oh. 

Adrien was accustomed to seeing his face smiling at him wherever he went. But this? This was something else. “Wow,” he breathed, tracing a claw over the sketch. He half expected to feel a warm face there, it was so lifelike. “ _Wow.”_

She giggled, “You said that already.”

He blinked and looked up at her, “You’re really talented, Marinette.” That was the understatement of the century.

She blushed and smiled, “Thank you.” Chat promised himself to do whatever it took to see her blush like that again.

He yearned to understand more about her. The pages of her sketchbook called to him, and since he was holding it right there in his hands, he started flipping backwards. There was a page of dress designs, a page of the Paris skyline, and then he opened a page that had more faces on it, just as detailed and incredible as the one she’d just completed. Wait, that wasn’t just any face, that was—

The book slipped from his hands and his head snapped up. Marinette was clutching her sketchbook to her chest, her eyes wide and horrified. “That’s enough sketchbook sneaking for today!”

He poked out his lower lip (just like the cute, pouting Chibi Chat Noir that was hiding in the pages of Marinette’s sketchbook), “I think they’re amazing! You should totally show them off!”

Her eyes narrowed, “You are nosy and incorrigible, you know that?”

He grinned broadly, “And proud of it!”

She playfully rolled her eyes but didn’t give the sketchbook back. He was just going to have to imagine what else was in there, other than the pages of himself—both with and without a mask. 

“Well, Purrincess,” he purred, “thank you for this amazing evening.” He bowed, took her hand, and pressed his lips to her warm fingers. When he looked back up, she was wearing the same blush that cropped up whenever she felt flattered, and Chat’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, how he loved that blush! But the moment had to end eventually, so he climbed over the railing and prepared to depart, when he got pulled back by his waistband. He turned to see Marinette tugging on his tail.

“Chat?” she said, her eyelashes fluttering softly, “Don’t be a stranger, ok?”

Now it was _his_ turn to blush and stammer and wonder why he had the strongest urge to kiss her. He managed to lean into his model training, gave her a wide smile and a two-fingered salute, crowed, “As my Purrincess wishes!” and then he launched himself into the night sky.

That night as Adrien lay in his bed, staring at the dark ceiling, Plagg’s advice from earlier floated through his mind. He knew he’d encouraged Ladybug to make the first move, and he knew he’d promised himself he’d keep an open mind and say yes to any girl that asked, but there was this burgeoning hope in his chest that ‘any girl’ would turn out to be just one girl… His resolve was weakening. What would he do if it _wasn’t_ her? What if she never asked? His last thought before drifting off to sleep was a plan: give Marinette a chance to ask. But if she didn’t? 

Well then. He’d just have to go get his own cheese.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, where did that 3K words of Marichat sweetness come from? Oh yes, it is my favorite ship, and I always find a way to sneak it in there. LOL Sorry this took a few days to get posted, and I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. Life, you know. I hope you're all well and safe!


	5. Chapter 5

“Plagg,” Adrien muttered, “sometimes, I seriously wonder if your black-cat unluckiness has rubbed off on me.”

Plagg’s muffled cackle floated up from inside Adrien’s jacket pocket. “Haha, Kid, no way. This is _all_ you.”

Adrien groaned again, ran his fingers through his hair, and leaned up against the edge of the building to relieve the pressure on his feet after standing on this set of stairs for the last twenty minutes. “Are all girls this _slow_?” Adrien checked his phone clock. If Lila didn’t get out here in the next couple minutes, they were going to be too late to catch the opening act. Of course, missing the opening band would just be, well, the stinky icing on this lousy day.

He’d thrown every excuse in the book at Nathalie regarding this ‘date.’ She saw straight through those. Then, he tried coming clean and telling Nathalie that he was interested in someone else. She simply shrugged and told him he was going to have to get used to working with people he wasn’t fond of. He’d tried bartering and begging, and when it became clear that Nathalie wouldn’t budge, he’d asked Lila to release him from their obligation. He’d even gotten short with her, but she just clamped on tighter. Adrien was feeling distinctly claustrophobic by the end of the school day, and then the time for the ‘date’ arrived and there he was, riding in the car to Lila’s apartment like a deer caught in the headlights and then he was pushing the buzzer and then he was waiting for her to finish getting ready and… ugh… his life was being lived for him and he had no idea how to change it.

He checked his phone clock again. Surely there was some rule about how long he should wait. He tapped out a text to Marinette: _Hey! I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at school today._ _☹ Wanna meet me for breakfast tomorrow?_ But upon re-reading it, he changed his mind and deleted the second sentence. _How’s everything with you?_ Yeah. That sounded better. He hit send and went back to his car, fed up with waiting. “Well,” he announced to his driver as he settled in the back seat, “I don’t think she’s coming. It’s probably best to just go home.”

Gorilla’s fleshy eyebrows raised at him in the rear-view mirror. 

“What?” Adrien harrumphed, trying not to let the grin of hope seep through his masked frustration, “I got stood up. I’m not heartbroken about it; these things happen.”

Gorilla shook his head once and his message was abundantly clear. Adrien rolled his eyes and clambered back out of the car and marched up to the door. He rang the buzzer again; still no answer. He looked back at Gorilla from the door and pointed to the quiet door with a flamboyant frown. Gorilla continued shaking his head slowly. 

“Argh!” Adrien growled at the sky, “This is so stupid!” He plopped himself down on the steps and dropped his chin to his hands. 

His phone pinged and his stomach bunched in a hopeful clench. A text from Marinette!

**Marinette: Sorry, you just seemed kind of busy today, with your date and all.**

Seeing the word ‘date’ in her sentence made Adrien collapse in on himself like a dying star. Oh no. _No._ She thought he was going on a date! No wonder she hadn’t approached him, even when he had a few minutes before lunch! What had he done? He thought back to his last conversation with her when he wasn’t transformed… He’d been bemoaning the fact that he had been roped into this outing with Lila… hadn’t he made it clear that he was _not_ looking forward to it? That Lila was _just_ a friend? No, not even a friend, a work acquaintance? No, even less than that…

Shoot. No, he hadn’t made that clear. “Oh, I’m such a jerk,” he moaned to himself and rapidly tapped out his response:

**Adrien: NOT a date. Ugh. My dad made me do this and I’m so ticked. I tried everything I could to get out of it but I’m stuck.**

**Adrien: Save me!**

There. That should help, right? He grinned when the dots under her name started blinking.

**Marinette: really? So sorry you got stuck with something you didn’t want to do. That stinks.**

**Adrien: yah, I just was hoping to be doing something this weekend with someone else.**

**Marinette: is that so? Anyone in particular?**

**Marinette: ANYTHING I MEAN ANYTHING**

Adrien smiled and pondered his response when the door behind him suddenly flew open. He looked up into Lila’s disproportionate smile and tried to be polite. “Ready?” he asked.

She put one hand on her hip as he stretched to his feet. “What’s that tone?”

He shrugged as they trudged toward the silver sedan, “There’s no tone, I just asked if you were ready.”

“Well,” she snipped, “that’s obvious.”

He opened the door for her, then followed her in and buckled his seatbelt. She curled up beside him and tried to rest her head on his shoulder. “Um,” he swallowed uncomfortably, “we can’t go anywhere until you have your seatbelt on, so—” he softly pushed her into her spot, and she frowned.

“Fine,” she sneered, before pulling out her cell phone. Adrien decided that if she was going to play on her cell, so would he. Texting Marinette was top priority.

**Adrien: There’s one girl I’ve been hoping would ask me out, but I don’t know if she’s interested.**

**Marinette: I’ll bet she likes Kung-Fu films and archery.**

Perplexed, Adrien replied,

**Adrien: is that what you’d like?**

**Marinette: Me? No, I’m an anime and gaming geek. Why?**

**Adrien: who did you think I was talking about?**

**Marinette: Kagami of course**

Adrien shook his head. How could she think he was interested in every other girl around besides her?

**Adrien: No, Marinette, I wasn’t talking about Kagami.**

**Marinette: you weren’t?**

“Who are you texting with that sloppy smirk?” Lila asked suddenly. Adrien reeled back and tucked his phone away.

“Oh, sorry,” he responded automatically, “I thought you were more interested in your phone than conversation, so I just—”

“Or maybe you weren’t texting someone; you were probably writing me a love poem, what a sweetheart!”

He shuddered, “Um, no.”

One of her eyes twitched. “Let me see it.” She held out her hand expectantly.

“See what?”

“Your phone, dummy!”

He pulled backward. He didn’t think anyone had ever called him dummy in his life. He was equally offended and horrified. “I’m good, thanks,” he retorted and looked out the window. Thank goodness they were arriving at the crowded stadium. Gorilla was trying to navigate through the packed parking lot. “Oh, look!” Adrien said, pointing out the window, “Nino and Alya are here! Right there! Hey, let us out here, we can join them in line!” Gorilla grunted his reply and started slowing down to let them out. Lila’s hand darted forward and grabbed the seat in front of her.

“No!” she gasped sharply, causing both Adrien and Gorilla to turn and look at her warily, “That is, um, how about over this way, at the VIP entrance?”

Adrien shook his head, “No, we didn’t tell the staff we were coming; we’re not on the VIP guest list,” he noted. “Besides, I’d much rather stand in line with our friends than face the gauntlet of paparazzi. Though, I guess I didn’t ask where our tickets are for. I just assumed we’d be general audience, right?”

She blinked and then plastered on one of the sickly-sweet smiles he was beginning to associate with her wildest tales. “Um, y-yeah, about our tickets—so, there was a homeless guy that was just looking so sad…”

Adrien held up his hand, “Lila, you _do_ have tickets, don’t you? You told me you did, which is why I didn’t get any.”

She frowned, “Well, what would you rather I do, let that homeless guy—”

He shook his head, “You never had them, did you.”

She recoiled indignantly, “Are you calling me a liar? Come _on,_ you’re Adrien Agreste! We pull up over at the red carpet, the cameras are going to go crazy, and the _Gabriel_ brand will be all over the music scene and vice versa. Your father will be thrilled, and who cares about the VIP guest list, they’ll love you! Come on!”

Adrien scowled, “It’s not right. We were not issued an official invitation.” Gorilla sighed and stopped the car, clearly frustrated by the arguing teenagers. Just then, Nino looked up from his place in the line and spotted the familiar silver sedan. He waved. “Look,” Adrien pointed out, “Nino’s waving. Let’s at least go say hi.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lila screeched, “They’ve all got tickets!”

“Yeah, but it would be rude not to at least say hello when we’re right here.”

She grumbled as Adrien quit asking for permission and exited the vehicle. “Dude!” Nino called, “I had no clue your old man would let you come to a Clara Nightingale concert without scheduling it three months in advance!”

“Hey!” Adrien grinned, approaching his friend and giving him a one-armed bro-hug. “Yeah, Lila told me she had tickets but—”

“But I gave them to a homeless guy!” Lila interrupted, suddenly right on Adrien’s side. She tried to grab his arm, but he pulled away, still disgusted that she had assumed he would be willing to use his fame to get them into a concert they hadn’t been invited to.

“Oh, that’s so nice of you, Lila!” Mylène smiled. 

“Hi Mylène,” Adrien greeted, “I didn’t see you there!”

She grinned and stepped back, revealing the rest of the group. “Alix! Kim! Nathaniel, Marc, and,” he gulped, “Marinette! I didn’t know you were all coming! It’s so good to see you!”

They waved. Marinette blushed. Alix threw her arms around Adrien’s middle. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she piped. “Especially since Luka hooked us all up with back-stage passes.”

Lila’s face paled. Adrien asked, “Oh really? How’d he manage that?”

Nino grinned, “It’s a perk of being in the opening band.” The line started moving with haste and Adrien eagerly trotted along beside the group. “I still think it’s awesome that Kitty Section landed this gig!”

“I believe it, though,” Adrien quipped, “They’re way better than most people give them credit for.”

“So, uh, Adrien,” Marinette’s quiet voice said from beside him. He turned and looked down into her soft blue eyes and wished he were going to this concert with her and not with the brunette to his left, “you don’t have tickets?”

He shook his head sadly, “No, but we’ll stand in line with you for a while, if that’s ok.”

Lila was making a faint growling sound. “Only because I gave them to an orphan kid—”

“I thought you said homeless—” Alya started.

“Whatever,” Lila hissed. 

“Well, our backstage pass is for as big of a group as we want,” Marinette smiled, and Adrien could have sworn the girl leaked sunshine from every orifice. “You can hang with us, if you want.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Oh, we wouldn’t want to impose,” Lila quipped, but Adrien had already taken his place in line beside Marinette.

Alya was looking confused, “Lila, would you point out the homeless guy you gave your tickets to? He’s got to be here somewhere…”

“Drop it, Alya,” Adrien hissed between his teeth, but that seemed to only excite Alya’s investigative side. 

“Don’t you want to see him? Make sure he’s having fun? Got here ok? See who he brought as his plus-one?”

“How do you know it’s a guy?” Mylène piped up from the front of the group. “A lot of homeless people are women and children, or whole families.”

“Oh, did you give the tickets to a family?”

Lila had that same nasty grin on her face that was rapidly becoming something Adrien feared would haunt his nightmares, “Uh, y-yeah,” she smiled. 

“Then they must be one of these groups with children! Maybe they’d like to come backstage and meet Clara Nightingale and all of Kitty Section and stuff! Lila, point them out to me!”

Lila hesitated just long enough to get them to security and the conversation ended as they all had their bags checked. Adrien and Alya were the first two through the checkpoint, so Adrien took the opportunity to pull Alya to the side. “Listen,” he whispered hastily, “Lila didn’t have any tickets for us not because she gave them away, but because she had planned on name-dropping her way in. So don’t bring it up again, ok? Let’s just enjoy the evening.”

Alya looked perplexed, “She didn’t… she was going to name-… _what?”_

He rolled his eyes and shook his head and tried to explain again despite the thickening crowd. “Lila… Lila sometimes stretches the truth in order to gain people’s favor. Ok, I’ll say it, she’s got a lying problem.”

“I know,” Alya said, “she has that condition—”

“It’s not a condition,” Adrien grumbled, exasperated. “It’s an excuse. She’s lied about a lot of things since the day she first came to our school.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to call her out in public. I’d hoped she’d changed, but every time I give her a chance, she does something like this. Still, I don’t think anyone deserves to be publicly shamed, do you?”

Alya’s mind was already churning, though, and Adrien started to regret saying anything at all. The crowd started jostling them, and Nino cozied up to Alya, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Hey, babe,” he crooned, kissing his girlfriend’s temple, “whatchu guys talking about?”

“Nothing—” Adrien started.

“Lila!” Alya snapped.

“What about me?” Lila said, joining them from behind. 

Alya’s eyes narrowed and Adrien knew he’d just accidentally unleashed the Kraken journalist inside her. “Just how you always seem to know everyone,” Alya said with a saccharine smile. 

“Come on, let’s just go find our seats—” Adrien pleaded, dragging the group along as the last few stragglers (Marinette and Mylène) made it through security. 

Much to Adrien’s chagrin, it was Lila who couldn’t see the danger ahead in this line of conversation and kept pressing the topic. “Oh yeah,” she said animatedly to Alya, her hands flapping excitedly, “I don’t like to talk about it much, but when you’re best friends with Ladybug, you get to brush shoulders with all kinds of celebrities.”

Marinette made a little snorting sound from the back of the pack, and Adrien turned to catch a glimpse of her clenching her fists and looking at her shoes. 

“You know,” Alya said, tapping her lips thoughtfully, “you say you’re best friends with Ladybug, but you’ve never brought her to a group event.”

“Oh,” Lila crooned, hooking her arm around Alya’s elbow, “she doesn’t like to draw attention to herself. She’s just so humble like that.” Adrien slowed his pace just enough to fall in earshot of Marinette; her response to Lila’s behavior had him intrigued. 

_“Well, that is true,”_ Marinette whispered. 

“But she also hasn’t mentioned anything in our interviews for the Ladyblog,” Alya countered. “In fact, when I asked her last time, she said her best friend was Chat Noir.”

Adrien nearly tripped and had to throw his hands out to stop him from plowing into Nathaniel’s back. _Ladybug said her best friend was Chat Noir?_

Lila laughed easily, “Well, of course she can’t talk about me in interviews, that would out her secret identity!”

Marinette snorted and whispered, _“As if!”_ The group settled into their seats with a few minutes to spare.

“But you could tell me—not her name, just land me an interview. Or just a few personal little details! Please, girl,” Alya sighed, buttering Lila up with kitten eyes, “Imagine the ratings!”

“Heh,” Lila laughed, looking nervous for the first time that night. 

“I’m sure everyone here would have questions they’d love to ask the best friend of Ladybug!” Alya asked, and Adrien had to hand it to her—she was doing a good job of putting Lila’s tales to the test without jumping to conclusions. 

“Yeah!” Alix piped up first. “Does she like doing art?”

Lila crunched her nose, “Uh, art? No, gross.”

That answer seemed to surprise Alix. “Really? I always thought she would be good at art because she’s so creative with her lucky charm. That’s interesting.”

“Oh, art?” Lila laughed with a manic edge to her voice, “I thought you said… um… fff-fart!”

“Ugh!” Alix giggled, “No way, you’re nasty, Lila!”

“I am not!” she recoiled, suddenly offended at the very notion.

“Relax,” Alix added defensively when Lila started growling under her breath, “It was just a joke.”

But Lila apparently couldn’t take a joke. “You guys are all just having your fun goading me along, aren’t you. I don’t think _any_ of you are serious about being Ladybug’s friend. Well _I_ am and it’s no wonder that _I’m_ the only one she likes!”

“Hey,” Nathaniel spoke up quietly, “Ladybug’s the kindest, most patient girl any of us have ever met—”

“Yeah,” Nino added. “We’ve all been akumatized at least once, well, except for Marinette and Adrien, and we’ve all had a chance to meet Ladybug and talk with her, and she’s super friendly.”

Lila was seething. “She despises you all, and for good reason! _I’m_ her best friend, I should know!”

“Lila,” Alya rushed, “settle down, nobody here’s attacking you!”

Alya tried to pat Lila’s shoulder but Lila threw Alya’s arm back, “Don’t touch me, you disgusting cow!” And then Lila did something that triggered a guttural defensive response that Adrien wasn’t even aware he had—Lila lunged at Marinette. “The only reason you haven’t been akumatized is because you’ve been working for Hawkmoth all along! Admit it!”

“W-what?” Marinette blinked. Adrien found himself between the two girls, his hands tight around Lila’s upper arms, pushing the brunette out of her seat and back away from the crowd. 

“Shut up, right now,” he growled.

“Admit it!” Lila screamed over Adrien’s shoulder. “You’re never around during akuma attacks, yet you’re always one of the first on scene after it’s over, it all adds up!”

“N-n-not true,” Marinette looked petrified.

“The look on your face says it all!” Lila spat.

“Marinette?” Mylène whispered, “Is that true?” 

Adrien’s blood was boiling. It went against his very nature to call out Lila in public, but this was a step too far. But just as he inhaled to lay the record straight once and for all, Marinette started a nervous laughter, “M-me? Work for Hawkmoth? N-no way! I j-just have th-things… I mean headaches… and a dying cat. And I have to do that a lot. Akuma strikes and stuff.”

“Marinette,” Mylène continued, “you’re not making sense.” She was right—Marinette’s nervous stammering was awfully incriminatory. Lila looked positively triumphant. 

“B-but why would I want to do something like that?”

“I dunno,” Lila sneered, throwing Adrien’s hands off her arms and getting up in Marinette’s face. Everyone was too stunned to move, “why did Jagged Stone pick a stupid teenager to design his album cover? Why did Clara Nightingale choose you to be in her music video? Why did Gabriel Agreste choose you as the winner of his hat design competition? How did you get chosen as class representative? Nobody has that much luck.”

“Are you suggesting,” Alya questioned, still trying to sort out the truth, “that Marinette only got those opportunities because she had help from _Hawkmoth?”_

“I’m saying it’s an awfully big coincidence if not.”

Marinette was trembling with pent-up rage, “That’s not true!” she yelled. “I worked hard for each of those opportunities. And I am _not_ working with Hawkmoth!”

“Prove it.” Lila grinned, folding her arms and leaning back. 

“I don’t have to—”

“Yeah,” Kim said softly, suddenly joining the conversation with a dopey grin on his face, “prove it.”

Marinette’s eyes blew wide as they darted between each of her friends. “P-prove that I’m not working with Hawkmoth? Come on you guys, I’ve been your friend for years! I’m clumsy, I can be super intense and stubborn, but I’m not evil—”

“Then it should be easy to prove,” Kim shrugged, looking more excited at the prospect of a competition than anything. 

Marinette blinked, “I… I didn’t think you all thought so little of me.” 

Adrien interjected, “Marinette—” But it was too late. The pigtailed girl sunk backward into the crowd. Adrien looked up, frustrated and exasperated. He turned to shout some sense into Lila, when he saw the shadow of the little butterfly in the spotlights roving over the crowd. “Oh crap,” he growled. “Marinette! _Marinette!”_ He chased after her, throwing people to the side as needed to reach her just as she made it to the aisle with her hands over her face. He wrapped a hand around her wrist and pulled her to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Marinette! It’s ok, I believe you—not only are you not working for Hawkmoth, you’re one of the most sincere, loving, incredible girls in the world. You’re special and smart and wonderful just the way you are.” He rubbed her back tenderly and her sobs shuddered underneath his arms. “Don’t let Lila bring you down. She’s jealous of everything you are. I’m going to go back there and tell them all the truth. You’ll see.”

She paused and pulled back, looking up at him with wide blue eyes, “R-really?”

He nodded sincerely, “Yes.”

“You really feel that way?”

“I do. You are amazing, my Everyday Ladybug!”

She smiled weakly, and Adrien relaxed. He looked up to see the akuma just behind Marinette pause and hover indecisively. Adrien gave Marinette his softest look and she blushed. She felt flattered! He couldn’t help but grin. Her little arms squeezed around his middle and he returned the hug. “What do you say we go back and enjoy this concert? After I cut Lila down to size, that is.”

She nodded. He threaded their fingers together to let her know he was right by her side. The two turned around to rejoin the group with their chests held high, but only to find Alya right behind Adrien with her phone out, snapping a picture of their clasped hands. “Alya?” Adrien queried, “what are you—”

Lila was lunging at them, her hands outstretched like sinuous vulture talons. Alya yelped and ducked, Lila hurtled over her and straight for her main target (Marinette). Adrien deflected her and simultaneously wrapped his arms around Marinette and pulled her down protectively. Lila toppled over the two of them. “Get back!” Adrien yelled at her, but Lila clawed her way back to her feet and out into the aisle, jumping and grabbing something out of the air. Adrien and Alya both turned up to watch as Lila triumphantly held up a cheap necklace from her throat and fed the struggling akuma into its new home.


	6. Chapter 6

“I can’t believe it,” Alya was muttering under her breath. “Lila actually _chose_ to be akumatized. I can’t believe it!”

“Alya!” Adrien barked, causing the reporter to jump in surprise. “Go get the others to safety! Try to clear out the audience!” 

Marinette had slipped out of his arms almost as soon as Lila had snatched the akuma, claiming to need to use the bathroom. As soon as Alya acknowledged Adrien’s commands, he started to look for a way out of the huge space. Lila, meanwhile, was whirling in circles above them, in a ghostlike outfit of grey and black. “I am Defamer!” she screeched! “Everything you’re proud of, all your achievements, will be mine!”

“Oh great,” Adrien grumbled. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” she monologed on, “Where are you? You’ll soon see what it’s like to be upstaged by everyone and everything!”

Adrien protected the heads of a couple passers-by as Defamer flew down at them. She spat a torrent of frosty breath, catching a couple of innocents in her path. They froze momentarily, and Adrien didn’t wait around to find out what happened to them when they unfroze. He ran for the nearest exit but got caught in a panicked crowd. “Excuse me,” Adrien shouted, “I really need to—”

“Adrien Agreste?” someone gasped. 

“This is really not a good time for fans—” he grinned, “but maybe after the show—”

“Adrien Agreste!” Defamer cried from behind.

“Oh shoot,” he grumbled, “Please, I need to go—”

“Adrien Agreste! You think you’re _so_ perfect with your model life and your money and your fame… let’s see how you like living like the rest of us!”

He ran and dove for cover, but the bank of chairs he was hiding behind was ripped up in a whirlwind force and the blast of ice overcame him before he had a chance to get away. Adrien couldn’t move his limbs, but his eyes were frozen open in horror and all he could do was watch as Ladybug came swinging in from the balcony—his savior in red. The feeling slowly returned to his feet and fingers, but Ladybug had already battled Defamer from one side of the arena to the other by the time he could move his arms again. Still frozen to the ground, Adrien looked over himself frantically. He felt more or less like normal, other than his feet being terribly sluggish. He finally pried his feet from the floor just as Ladybug dodged an icy blast by hurling a speaker at Defamer. Wow, Ladybug was even more impressive from back here!

He ran to find cover, but his thighs and stomach seemed too heavy for his eager feet. He felt top heavy and short of breath. Adrien paused near one of the finally crowd-free exits to clutch at a stitch in his chest. But as he looked down at his body, he caught sight of the silver ring on his right hand. It had turned into a thick mood-ring, with a gaudy stone currently displaying a blue-gold shimmer. _“What?”_ he gasped. His Miraculous… something had happened to his Miraculous! _“Plagg!”_ he hissed under his breath, but there was no response. No! Had Lila gotten hold of Plagg? Adrien looked back to see Ladybug landing some impressive blows on Defamer, who seemed none the wiser that she’d already disabled Chat Noir. He breathed a small sigh of relief. Even if he couldn’t transform, at least he hadn’t lost his Miraculous. 

Adrien had to make a rapid series of decisions: should he go in search of Plagg and try to figure out what was happening? Should he assist in the evacuation of the arena? Should he—

Ladybug’s scream of alarm brought him up short. He looked up and braced for the worst but was surprised to note that Ladybug herself wasn’t in danger—only Adrien’s friends. Nino, Alya, Nathaniel, Marc, Alix, all hiding together behind a bank of seats, got hit with an icy blast from Lila’s mouth. “No! Leave them alone!” Ladybug screamed, and in her frustration, flew towards Defamer without carefully assessing the situation.

“Ladybug, look out!” Adrien yelled, and Ladybug instinctively ducked, barely able to avoid the falling stage lights that had been knocked loose after Defamer’s last attack.

“Thanks, Chat!” Ladybug sighed as she looked around the arena to locate the voice. Adrien blushed.

“It wasn’t Ch-Chat Noir,” he stuttered, waving from the aisle below Ladybug, “Just me.”

She locked eyes with him and nearly dropped her yo-yo. “Adrien? Adrien Agreste?”

“In the flesh,” he smiled.

“You look… different,” she blinked.

Defamer giggled above them, swooping down to launch another volley of punches at Ladybug. “That’s because he’s lost all his accolades and accomplishments, just like you will soon enough—and then I’ll take your Miraculous!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes, “Oh please,” she yawned, “I’ve heard it all before. But don’t worry. Chat Noir will be here soon and we’re going to—” Her voice was cut off as Defamer let out a blast of ice that peeled back a portion of the stage. Ladybug dodged the shrapnel but lost the high ground and had to swing out into the arena to regain her footing. She landed close enough to Adrien that he ran to her side.

“Listen,” he said rapidly, “I don’t think Chat Noir’s going to make it this time. I… I saw him coming across the parking lot, but he got… detained…” It wasn’t his best excuse, but Ladybug’s wide, concerned eyes still melted him.

“Is he ok?”

“I’m sure he’s fine, just don’t wait for him.”

She spun her yo-yo as a shield, and Adrien had never fully appreciated how powerful she was. Still, in this moment, her shoulders sunk, her lower lip poked out, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that Chat was right here. “That’s f-fine,” she said. “I mean, not ideal; Chat Noir’s the best partner I could ever hope for, but I guess there’s nothing we can do… You’re _sure_ he’s ok?”

Adrien’s heart clinched. “ _Paw-_ sitive,” he winked. She gave him an odd look. He blushed and stammered to cover his gaffe, “But maybe I can help! What do you need?”

She looked around, suddenly all business, and without warning cried, “Lucky Charm!” A microphone fell in her hands and she smiled. “Perfect,” she whispered to herself, before handing the microphone to Adrien. “I need a distraction.” 

Adrien nodded once, knowing exactly what she meant, spun on his heel and took a sprinting leap, when Ladybug’s hand on his shoulder pulled him back. Electricity jolted him to his core. She was touching him! _Keep your head in the game, Agreste!_ “What is it?”

“Don’t you need to know the plan?”

His eyebrows pulled in as he shook his head, “You said you needed a distraction, so I’m going to go hide behind that curtain and use the arena’s sound system to confuse Defamer while you go in for the necklace. It’s not that complicated.” Defamer was swooping in from above and Ladybug wrapped her arms around Adrien’s waist and pulled him to safety just in time. “Seriously, Ladybug, we’re wasting time, just go get her!” he cried. 

A smile crept across her face, “Y-yeah, you’re right!”

He brazenly gave her a peck on the cheek as she set him down. She blushed bright red. “Sorry,” he grinned, “I… I just think you’re amazing, and smart, and brave--”

She smiled softly, tilting her head adorably to one side, “Adrien, has anyone ever told you you make the cutest owo face?” 

His eyes popped. _Owo face?_ Did she really just—

Ladybug zipped off and Adrien had to take a second to breathe. Had she really just said that? Could it possibly be? Was Ladybug… was she _Marinette?_ As soon as he thought it, he couldn’t un-think it. He looked again at her lithe body flying through the arena—her dark pigtails bouncing and her round cheeks blushing just like Marinette’s, her plans as detailed and brilliant as Marinette’s, her kindness and thoughtfulness just like Marinette’s, everything…

Her one true love the same as Marinette’s…

The same as Ladybug’s…

Ladybug loved Adrien Agreste.

Marinette loved Adrien Agreste.

Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette!

She yelped, he looked up and caught her eye, and came back to himself. The plan! He dove behind the curtain and found the sound system controls. It only took a matter of seconds to execute Ladybug’s flawless strategy, and soon Adrien was stepping back into the arena to watch Ladybug cleanse the akuma. He tossed the microphone back to her and she called Miraculous Ladybug, and Adrien smiled as his body returned to its trim-and-fit model shape, and his Miraculous was restored. Plagg cozied up to his chest and Adrien gave him a little pat through his shirt. Sighing contentedly, Adrien made to leave the stage and find his friends, until Ladybug landed right in front of him, and held out her fist. “Pound it!” she grinned.

He stared at her fist—at _Marinette_. She was so bright and cheery, so amazingly special. He chuckled ironically—Lila had been right, for once in her life—Marinette was never around during akuma battles but always showed up right when they ended. But it went beyond that; as he stood there looking at her, she reformed in his mind’s eye as one complete, incredible human being. She was clumsy and strong, she was adorable and powerful, she was Ladybug and the girl that sat behind him.

Then, a white-hot bolt of horror struck Adrien in the chest. He had never told her how he felt about her! Well, Chat Noir had told Ladybug every chance he got, but _Adrien_ had never looked twice at _Marinette._ What must she think of him? How she must despise him! Oh! And she thought he was going on a date with _Lila—_ he gagged at the mere notion of it now. And when he cleared it up in the text that felt like a lifetime ago already, she’d immediately assumed he was dating Kagami! No! Well, Kagami was a great friend and fencing partner, but his heart had settled on Ladybug— _Marinette!—_ ages ago and now here she was, right there in front of him, this incredible, beautiful, amazing powerhouse of a person that he never wanted to lose agai—

“Adrien?”

“OH!” he yelped, bumping her fist. “Pound it!”

She smiled fondly. Her earrings beeped once, and she fingered them hesitantly. “Um, I guess I’ve gotta go,” she muttered, “but thanks for your help.”

He wanted to tell her everything—that he knew who she was, that he loved her, that he was Chat Noir, but the room was refilling with people. He looked around quickly, trying to find a covert place to talk to her.

“Adrien?”

“Yeah?” he said, snapping back to attention on her amazing bright blue eyes.

“I p-promised someone I’d ask you something as soon as I saw you.”

“Oh? _Oh.”_

“Will you go out with me? Like, as a date?” she rushed, grinding her toe in the ground in a very Marinette-ish way.

He couldn’t hold his inner Chat Noir back. He felt his hair lift with his whole forehead and knew his face had lit up simultaneously. “You—you want to go out with _me?_ ” She bit her lower lip and smiled, then nodded demurely. 

Adrien opened his mouth to proudly accept, but then a light blush danced across her cheeks just under her mask, and Adrien was reminded of the sweet, fragile girl standing before him—a girl who had withstood the bullying remarks of Lila Rossi and Chloe Bourgeois; a girl who often bore the weight of the world on her shoulders without shirking; a girl who had been right there in plain sight; a girl who had put his happiness above her own time and time again—and so he closed his eyes briefly and steeled himself, before responding very carefully, “Ladybug, I’m really, really flattered. You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met. But I’m sorry, I can’t go out with you.” She looked crushed, as he figured she probably would, so he hurried on, “The truth is, there’s this girl in my class that I’ve been really hoping would ask me out, and I’d like to give her a chance. In fact, if she doesn’t ask me, I’m going to ask her.”

The smile on Ladybug’s face was plastered on, and Adrien could tell she was only just barely holding back tears. “Oh, oh, I see,” she said in an overly high squeak. “Well, in that case, I h-hope you’ll be hap—”

“Yeah,” Adrien interjected before she could slip away in her selflessness, “she’s the class rep and she’s done all these amazing things like designing the cover of Jagged Stone’s album and almost starring with me in Clara Nightingale’s music video. Maybe you’ve heard of her—her name’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

Adrien wished he had a camera in that very second, because Ladybug’s face morphed from pain to shock and hope and excitement instantly and perfectly. The smile that spread across her face was seared into Adrien’s memory and he would remember that smile in dark times; it would bring him hope and happiness for the rest of his life. “M-Marinette?” Ladybug’s lip quivered.

Adrien sighed and made doughy eyes, “Yeah, so I’m sorry that I can’t go out with you right now. I sure hope Marinette will ask me. She’s amazing, and I really, really like her.”

Ladybug’s earrings started beeping in earnest. “Oh,” she chirped, fingering her earrings and smiling in that sunshine-from-every-orifice-way, “Well, I hope you two will be really happy and I hope you like hamsters!”

“Thanks, Ladybug, for everything.” She smiled at this and prepared her yo-yo to make her exit. “Wait,” he added, “what about hamsters?”

“Bug out!”


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette and Adrien ran up to their group of friends from opposite directions, but at the same time. Adrien couldn’t help but grin like an idiot as he watched her re-adjust her pigtails and smooth the front of her shirt. “Hey everyone!” she waved, “I got hit with an ice blast right at the beginning there and missed the whole fight! Everyone ok?”

Their friends nodded solemnly. Alya, in particular, looked incredibly sheepish. “Marinette,” she muttered, “we were all just talking and… and we all owe you an apology.”

Marinette, to her credit, just looked nonplussed. “An apology?”

But just then, like a snake slithering out of its den already preparing to strike, Lila Rossi appeared at Kim’s side. “Hey everyone, wow, that was just crazy!” 

“Crazy?” Alya crowed, stepping protectively in front of Marientte, her fists on her hips. “You know what was _crazy?_ You grabbing that akuma. Like, why would you even—”

Lila’s saccharine sneer made Adrien shudder. “Oh _Alya,_ ” she oozed, “that’s just the thing. When I saw that akuma coming for poor, sweet Marinette, I didn’t think. I just reacted. I couldn’t let my f-friend get akumatized! Even if she was probably hoping to get powers from her boss, Hawkmo—”

“You know what?” Adrien lifted Alya off her feet and set her softly to the side, ignored Alya’s squawk of protest, and barreled down on Lila. He felt like his eyes were spouting flames. They probably were; he didn’t care. Let her see his wrath. “You are a liar and a cheat. Ever since you came here, you’ve done nothing but lie and bully. You are the worst kind of person, Lila, and I’m going to see to it that you are never believed again.”

“But—”

“Shut up!” he growled lower, “My mother may have taught me how to be a gentleman, but my father taught me how to win at any cost. You do _not_ want to cross me.”

“Adrien how could you—”

She _still_ had the audacity to talk? The gloves came off. “The very first day you arrived, you started spouting lies about how you were best friends with Ladybug, and how you were a descendent of a fox hero, does everyone remember?” There was a general murmur of assent from behind Adrien, though he didn’t turn to acknowledge it. “So you got me alone and—gah, I was such an idiot, I thought you might be telling the truth, so I listened—and do you remember what happened?” Lila blanched—the first sign that his words were having any affect on her. “Because I sure do—Ladybug came. She shredded your evidence. At the time I thought she was overreacting, but that was before I knew just how much damage a pathological liar could do. If I had known, I would have shut you down right then and there. But, like the idiot I am, I thought you deserved a second chance. And then you came back and started lying more, but I figured it was mostly harmless. I knew the truth but thought exposing you for what you are would just make it worse. I should have put my foot down then. Oh,” he clenched his fists in his hair, pulling it masochistically, “I should have stopped this so much sooner. But,” Adrien’s eyes finally stopped boring into Lila’s skull and turned—instantly softening—to Marinette, even though he continued to talk to Lila, “I didn’t know the damage you were doing. I didn’t know how much you were hurting someone I care about deeply.” His voice took on an edge of pleading, “I’m so, _so_ very sorry.” Marinette’s eyes welled with tears, the edges of her mouth pulling up slightly as he apologized to her. She nodded once, and he knew that she forgave him—even if he hadn’t forgiven himself quite yet, and probably wouldn’t until he’d had time to make it up to her. But he’d have to save that for later. Now, he had more pressing matters. He wheeled around to Lila once more, “You’re not a hero. You’re not even a friend. _You’re_ the one who’s been working with Hawkmoth, aren’t you? Don’t even try to deny it, we all saw the way you scooped up that akuma. It wasn’t still going for Marinette—she’d schooled her feelings enough that it couldn’t touch her, but you saw that as your golden opportunity. So don’t try to lie to us again, _Lie-_ la. I suggest you go. I’ll make sure you get a ride home. But it’s probably best if you didn’t talk to me again.”

Her eyes narrowed to vile little slits. “You’re going to regret this, Agreste,” she hissed.

“I am? What are you going to do?”

Her jaw flexed as she tried to think up words. She folded her arms in defiance and turned to the other members of the group that Adrien had all but forgotten. Then, her face screwed up in the fakest cry Adrien had ever seen, “Wh-why are you b-being so m-mean?” she sobbed. “I’ve only ever been n-nice to you! Why are you all d-defending this b-b-bully?”

“Hey now,” Nino interjected, suddenly fierce, “Adrien’s my best bro. He’s _not_ a bully.”

“No way,” Mylène piped up, “Adrien is the nicest kid in school. And Marinette? She’s the last person who would _ever_ work for Hawkmoth.” Then, the pint-sized environmentalist turned and patted Marinette’s arm, “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. I knew she was wrong, but I sometimes have a hard time expressing how I feel.”

“It’s ok, Mylène,” Marinette whispered.

Alya’s jaw hadn’t quite come off the floor yet, so she just looked at her feet, “Yeah, Marinette, I’m… I’m the worst. I’m so sorry.”

Kim’s eyes bounced from Lila to Marinette to Adrien to Lila to Adrien again, “So Marinette’s _not_ working with Hawkmoth?”

“No!” the whole group chorused in tandem. 

“Oh, ok, then. Sounds cool.” Alya facepalmed, Adrien rolled his eyes, and Marinette burst out into a round of laughter that proved to be infectious. Soon, the whole group was leaning into each other, giggling until their ribs ached. Everyone, that is, except for Lila.

“Shut up, all of you! You don’t know anything! You don’t know how important I really am!”

But nobody listened nor cared. Meanwhile, the lights started dimming and Kitty Section took the stage. “Well,” Lila sneered, “I’m going to go hang out with people who are _actually_ cool.”

“You do that,” Adrien winked as Marinette giggled fits at his side. 

Lila stomped angrily and marched off. As her dark presence receded, Adrien noted that his troubles with Lila were probably far from over, but for today? The battle had been won. He casually draped his arm around Marinette’s shoulder and the group settled into their seats. 

“Um, Adrien?” Marinette squeaked. He looked down at the beautiful, amazing girl by his side and realized what he’d just done. He’d found her—he’d found his Lady, his soulmate—but he hadn’t said a word to her about it. He pulled his arm back awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, blushing furiously. 

“Sorry. I just… I was h-hoping, that…”

She grinned behind the most beautiful pink cheeks he’d ever seen. Wow, had she really been there all this time? Was he really so dense that he hadn’t noticed her? No, he’d noticed. He just hadn’t realized that she was what he wanted until the moment that his name had slipped passed Ladybug’s lips. 

“Adrien,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut, “do you think we… we could make this a date?” She peeked through one eyelid, gnawing her lower lip raw.

He grinned and leaned in, whispering into her ear, “I’d love nothing more, My Lady.”

She froze, but he didn’t care just now. He wrapped his arm back around her shoulders as Kitty Section’s first number started thumping through the speakers.

* * *

Chat Noir slipped the panjas bracelet over his wrist and tucked the bumblebee comb in his hair. Roarr and Pollen shimmered into existence and smiled at him. Ladybug giggled. “Are you sure you’re ok with this?”

“Paw-sitive,” he smirked. “A deal’s a deal. Agreste turned you down; I get the Miracle box for two whole months,” he added a wink. Ladybug grinned and patted his cheek before collecting the nose ring and anklet and putting them on herself. “You really don’t need to help me,” he reiterated, “I’m doing well.”

She rolled her eyes as Daizzi and Stompp—the pig and ox kwami—flashed and raced to join their other kwami friends. “Come on, Chat,” she teased, “you think I’m going to let the extra Miraculous give you an unfair advantage?”

“Is _that_ what this is about?” he asked.

“No,” she shrugged, letting the cryptic answer drive him batty. Wow, he loved her.

The two of them took off, racing across the rooftops of Paris as they patrolled. “So,” Chat called as he fell in stride beside her, “Whatchya thinking? I know, I know, now that debonair Billboard Boy turned you down, you’re ready to admit you’ve got a soft spot for this Kitty, am I right?”

She giggled and swatted at his arm, then put on a burst of speed to run up the side of a building. “I _knew_ you’d do that. I called it from day one.” He grinned. 

“Well, too bad for you,” he called back, “it doesn’t matter how you feel; this Kitty’s taken.”

“Is that so?” she asked as she tossed her yo-yo casually to a nearby sign post, “How does your girlfriend feel about you flirting up a storm with me?”

He chuckled under his breath, used his staff to launch himself into the air beside her, wrapped his arm around her waist (she gasped an amazing little “Oh!”) and lifted her up to the rooftop. “I don’t know, how _does_ she feel about it?” He pulled her in so close that her hair brushed his lips.

She blushed bashfully, “Now, how am _I_ supposed to know that?” She winked, tossed her yo-yo off the roof and zipped away, leaving Chat Noir staring after her in amazement. It was probably a good thing that Love Crusher wasn’t here to sock him with a forced love confession. He knew he’d never be able to stop Paris from knowing that he was totally, completely, one-hundred-percent in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

* * *

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, dear friends! I hope you enjoyed this little story. If you want to join the Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server and participate in events and really great discussion like the prompt challenge that started this thing, here's a link!  
> <https://discord.gg/mlfanworks>


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